Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore and the Fiscal Court have appointed City of Florence Mayor Diane Whalen and Dinsmore partner Lewis Diaz to the Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation (Tri-ED) Board of Directors.
Mayor Whalen
Mayor Whalen will begin a one-year term on July 1 when City of Fort Mitchell Mayor Jude Hehman’s term on behalf of Kenton County ends.
Mayor Whalen was elected to city council in 1997 and she has been elected the Mayor of Florence, one of Kentucky’s fastest growing communities, in consecutive terms since 1999. The city’s economic development strategy focuses on creating a diverse economy that supports long-term sustainability by building stronger relationships and working with the existing start-up and entrepreneurial community.
“We’re grateful for Mayor Hehman’s business acumen and service on the Board over the last year and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tom Banta, Tri-ED Board Chair and Managing Director of Corporex Companies, LLC. “We welcome Mayor Whalen and her expertise leading one of our largest cities, featuring a diverse business base of retailers, restaurants and industrial companies, in Northern Kentucky.”
Lewis Diaz, partner in Dinsmore & Shohl LLP’s Covington, Kentucky office, was appointed to fill the seat previously held by John Hawkins, President and CEO of Management Professional International (MPI) Consulting. Diaz is a member of Dinsmore’s nationally ranked public finance practice which closed 243 financings totaling $5.94 billion in 2020. Active in the community, Diaz serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission and Chair of the Board of Regents of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky.
Lewis Diaz, Dismore & Shohl
“John Hawkins has been a valuable resource on the Board and I want to thank him for his years of service to Tri-ED and the Northern Kentucky community,” said Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore. “The legal and public finance expertise and leadership skills Lewis brings to the Board make him an asset to Tri-ED. We’re excited to have him join the Board.”
The Boone County Fiscal Court re-appointed Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) CEO Candace McGraw to a new two-year term. McGraw and Diaz’s terms will expire June 30, 2024.
Tri-ED is governed by a twenty-three-member board of directors, comprised of business and community leaders, who are unpaid volunteers. The Boone, Campbell and Kenton County Fiscal Courts each appoint four members of the Board of Directors from their respective counties. On an annual rotating basis, one county Fiscal Court nominates a Mayor from its county to a one-year term. The seven additional Board members are approved by the nominating committee, including the Judges/Executive from Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties, Board Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary, and then considered and appointed by the full Board of Directors.
Tri-ED
I’ve been doing some research and most City county and State law enforcement agencies there are very few high-ranking females Fact ! And your city there is no one ranking higher than corporal !!! I find this bizarre considering the facts ! Women officers don’t have a 70% divorce rate , women officers have far less physical confrontations as well as legal and property damage lawsuits ! When saving a baby they rarely make the news ! Female officers have a much higher diffusing rate and statistically proved to be better officers less violations ! All of these things are facts ! Yet no one has a higher ranking than corporal ! Why does a person have to turn on the TV set and watch a sitcom with a high ranking female officer ?